Trump’s presidency, the demise of the major parties, and the need for a new Progressive movement

Trump’s presidency, the demise of the major parties, and the need for a new Progressive movement

It’s on all of us on the left, and in the rest of the Democratic base to pick up the pieces and to build a movement of resistance and a new political party of the left to fight for real progressive change and real democracy.

Donald J. Trump is the next president of the United States. His stunning victory over Hillary Clinton came after he had first crushed the Republican Party establishment, steamrollering all the candidates it put forward and defeating party leaders’ concerted efforts to deny him the nomination as he rolled up victory after victory in that party’s primaries.

Comments

There’s also a need for something to replace the fourth arm of power executive in the United States- the Supreme Court.
This thing was supposed to be an independent body not in the debt of any political party, any movement of any sort, and definitely not the president, House or Senate.
But for decades now the Supreme Court has been anything but independent, and justices are openly classified as liberal or conservative in the political sense. They are appointed by democratic or republican presidents because they are seen as democratic or republican in their views, and they operate as such long after those presidents are out of office or dead.
A conservative candidate for the Supreme Court who is nominated by a conservative president will not be approved if the Senate at the time is controlled by the democrats. And vice versa for the democrats of course.
It is little more than a joke. Trump has just said he will put forward a justice who will uphold his right wing views on certain key matters. There’s no independence here. This justice will be appointed to do Trump’s conservative political agenda and everybody knows it.
I would suggest that justices of the Supreme Court be elected, just as senators are. Let them declare their political affiliations and agendas, and win or lose the seat on that basis.
And no Supreme Court justice should be given a job for life. He or she should be given a term, with option for another if he or she can win re-election. There should also be provisions for recall of a Supreme Court justice, and impeachment for conspicuous bad behaviour. With that kind of measure several justices would have been impeached for voting to halt the recount in the Florida election, yes the one that gave George Bush the presidency over Al Gore!